Be cautious about taking your passport photo right after a haircut

It’s understandable that people will strive to look amazing on their passport photo. After all, the image will typically stay with you for 10 years and can be seen by friends, colleagues and airport officials during that time. This is why many applicants choose to treat themselves to a brand new haircut before getting in front of the lens. If you’ve decided to go down this route, you should be cautious about posing for your passport picture immediately after returning from the hairdressers. Here are three things that you need to think about.

Time to settle

It’s true that your hair might look sleek and shiny in those first few minutes after having it styled. However, you should give it time to settle. Colours, for example, might appear bolder than they will in the hours that follow. You don’t want to go to all the effort to take a great passport photo, only to find that your hair settles into something totally different after a wash or two.

Get used to it

The hairdresser will tell you that you look fabulous once they’ve worked their magic. You might initially think this too. Sadly, once you get used to it you might find that it’s not for you and that it needs a complete restyle. It would, therefore, be unfortunate if you’d already snapped a photo and submitted your passport application before coming to this conclusion.

Signs of the hairdressers

It can be hard to see beyond your new ‘do when you leave the hairdressers. Your locks might look perfect, but you could have small strands of hair stuck to your skin or even an inflamed scalp if you’ve only recently had bleach applied. These small details could ultimately leave you unhappy with the picture when you come to analyse it.

Think before flashing

It would be an awful shame for you to end up with an unsatisfactory passport photo just because you jumped the gun and snapped one to show off your freshly cut hair. Due to this, you should think about waiting for a while after returning from the hairdressers. Once you’ve taken a picture that you’re pleased with, be sure to send it over to Paspic so that you can have assurance it meets the government guidelines.

Tips for pregnant women taking passport photos

You’ll almost feel like you’ve got a never-ending to-do list when you’re pregnant. As well as having birthing plans and baby supplies on your mind, you might also find that you’ve got to submit your passport application – and, as a result, take a picture to go with it. Thankfully there are a few handy tricks which should help you to take a decent passport photo as quickly and effortlessly as possible, which you’ll no doubt agree is highly desirable in your pregnant state. Here are three you can try out:

Embrace your glow

It’s not uncommon for girls (and guys) to rush to the make-up counter before taking their passport photo. After all, everyone wants to sport a flawless, blemish-free complexion on such an important picture. However, you don’t need any foundation or blusher to achieve this when you’re with child. Instead, you should embrace your pregnant glow. The fact that this means you can steer clear of make-up should save you some time that could be spent on other baby-related tasks.

Stay sat down

There’s always a temptation to rise to your feet for your passport photo. However, this isn’t demanded in the official guidelines. Instead, the rules simply state that you should flash your picture ‘against a plain cream or light grey background’. Therefore, you should be sure to give your feet a much-needed rest by taking the photo from the comfort of a seat.

Submit it quickly

While life can get in the way of your passport application (namely the possibility of giving birth and becoming a mother) you shouldn’t leave it too long to submit the picture you’ve taken. The guidelines state that all images must be ‘taken within the last month’, so make sure you’re speedy with sending it off or you could find that you need to take another at some point in the future.

Good luck!

A fully completed passport application will be just one less thing that you’ll have to worry about when you’re pregnant. For a helping hand in making sure that your picture will be accepted, be sure to use the great service provided by Paspic.

Photo: Pregnant by be creator licensed under Creative commons 2